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I know it’s a few days late but I like to wait until the year is over because hey, you never know what can happen, right?

Anyhow I bid you a very Happy New Year. And in keeping with what seems to be a new tradition since I’m always taking pictures of even the most minor event in my life with my phone, I’m going to share with you my photographic year in review* as I did last year. I enjoy doing these posts because I throw in a lot of crazy little things that I saw along with the big things, plus add often sarcastic commentary to go along with all of it.

Will 2014 compare to 2013? Will it be better or worse? You be the judge. So grab your choice of beverage, sit back, and enjoy the (possibly bittersweet) ride.

I found a wallet and tried to return it, which turned into one clusterfuck of an ordeal. (Note that the term “clusterfuck” may appear many, many more times in this post – you’ve been warned!) The coins were found in the parking lot next to the wallet but I kept them. Half-dollars are cool.

We made another trip to Disneyland a few weeks after the last one. It’s already too much.

I discovered that the local church has parking dedicated to corpulent parishioners.

In an effort to cut costs due to unemployment, we cut the cable cord and bought Roku boxes and digital antennae.

Speaking of unemployment, I got a job the day after my birthday at a local grocery store where I tend to take selfies in the freezer.

And speaking of birthdays, I turned 45 without much fanfare as don’t have my birthdate visible on Facebook. (Those who know, know.) I’m not a big birthday person and only posted this cryptic image on Instagram for people to figure out. I think only one person did.

I celebrated Chinese New Year the way I did last year, by riding in the Chinatown Firecracker 30-Mile Bike Ride. It’s one of my favorite events but sadly, due to my part-time status, all of my events for 2015 have been put on the back burner. I may not do any if I can’t get the money together for them.

We took one of two trips to the tide pools, one of our most favorite local spots.

Sadly, on my Mom’s birthday, my Aunt Mary (seated) passed away. This was taken a year earlier at Mom’s surprise 75th birthday.

May 2014

We were invited to go to Disneyland’s 24 Hour event and I was the only person in our group to make it to sunrise on Saturday (after arriving around 4pm Friday). I didn’t blog about it; I only posted my pictures on Instagram.

June 2014

We discovered that there’s a Hello Kitty wine, but we don’t like Chardonnay. I’m more of a Merlot person now that I occasionally drink wine.

We took our final trip to Disneyland.

July 2014

I got this really creepy lenticular Jesus picture sent to me from a church that was begging for money. I was on their mailing list for a while and got all kinds of weird stuff sent to me, including a communion wafer.

The door of the baler at work came down and smashed my fingertips. They were numb for about a month or so but are fine now.

In an effort to earn a few bucks since I was (and still am) only working part-time, we sold our extra refrigerator. And you know what? That turned out to be a big clusterfuck as well!

Only 17 months into our lease, we had to say goodbye to the Kia Optima. Working a minimum-wage, part-time job just wasn’t enough to make the payments anymore. It felt like a kick in the gut but it has turned out to be fine in the end. It also gives me yet another opportunity to say that Kia financing is the worst on the planet. Read this post for more information.

The day we got rid of the Optima also ushered in a new day of motoring for me: I bought my Yamaha Zuma scooter which I still love. Payments are 1/4 that of the Optima and it is ridiculous on gas (between 65-80 MPG), meaning I’ve never put more than $3 in it since I’ve owned it.

I got a second job someplace near and dear to my heart, which I quit after only one day of training. I’ve never seen the paycheck. I quit for many reasons, the main one being their ultra-strict policy on personal items and phones. It pretty much granted them the right to search my locker, backpack, and phone any time they wanted with no reason or cause. I’m an honest guy but their policy was way overboard for me, so I left.

After a month of studying, I took the written exam for my motorcycle license and got my permit.

Well, outside of Christmas, there wasn’t much to speak of in December so I don’t have many pictures for that month. It looks like 2014 had its share of highs and lows but naturally, I took the good with the bad and moved on.

By the way, I’m still on Facebook Vacation and enjoying it. It’s amazing how much you can do with your time when you don’t give it so much attention.

Anyhow, there’s my second annual Year In Review post and I hoped you enjoyed it. Here’s hoping my 2015 is less phone-breaky, scooter-pushy, and wallet-findy and that yours is everything you wish it make it to be.

*Selected events, of course. You don’t need to know about my doctor’s visits.

Since this is a personal blog, I figured that instead of writing a year-end review about other things, it would be better suited for me to give a year-end review of things that actually happened in my life. It’s much easier to do something like this now since chances are I captured those moments with my phone, giving me photographic proof of the events.

With all of that out of the way, here’s a month-by-month photo essay of how things went with me and the family in 2013, some of which was never mentioned here on the blog. Take a virtual trip of the things we did, places we saw, events that brought us happiness, triumph, and even sadness.

On Saturday, I decided to take the family out to a local spot that I had frequented as a kid but they had never been before.

The tide pools at White Point Park in San Pedro, CA are simply amazing. Not only is the scenery beautiful but so are the creatures that call it home: starfish, sea anemones, and what seemed to be an endless supply of crabs. I swear, you took one step and you could literally see them scatter way from you. But before you even had a chance to get near the sea life below, check out the view from above.

There are two ways to get down there: you can find a parking spot on the street and walk down (our initial plan) or pay the $10 and drive down. While I would have had no problem walking back up, the family overruled me and made me pay. That decision turned out to be the right once as you will find out later in the post (and the reason for this post’s title).

One you make you way down, the view gets even better.

This is southern California, not Hawaii.

As you make your way into the tide pools, that’s when you start to discover nature in all of her beauty: irregular-shaped rocks and shells are only the beginning. Walking closer to the rocks, the creatures that call the sea their home start to appear and are they something else.

I have to admit that this thing sort of freaked me out but I went ahead and touched it anyway. It was definitely alive; its body trembled when I placed the tip of my finger on its back.

Despite seeing some wonderful animals in what is essentially Mother Nature’s Touch Tank, Ann wasn’t going to be satisfied until she saw a starfish. I told her she would but to get closer to the water and look closely under rocks since they like to hide.

And once she did that, she was not disappointed.

The starfish sightings were becoming about as frequent as the crab sightings, but much more serene. Those crabs are punks and like to run as if you are going to take their secret stash of food.

So this post’s title. Let me explain. As Ann was slowly navigating her way over the rocks, she came across one that was really slippery (as some are) and warned me about stepping on it.

Perhaps the excitement of finding yet another unique sea animal got the best of me and I had forgotten her words of advice because as I was making my way back to shore, I stepped on said rock and slipped on it and I fell — hard. My right leg took the brunt of the hit while my left foot lost its grip, throwing my left leg onto the surface of another rock. On top of all that, in the midst of breaking my fall, a corner of the camera slammed into the rock and my face nearly made contact with another. In short, asses and elbows everywhere.

I was very fortunate to not have my face slam into the rock because my legs were damaged enough. While my left wasn’t too bad, the area of impact on the right one swelled almost immediately and to golf-ball sized proportions. I’d never seen anything like it. I won’t post the images here but if you are interested in seeing the carnage, click here and scan through the next few images. It wasn’t pretty but in the end it was just a minor setback. Fortunately, a lifeguard showed up as we were going to the car and Ann asked him for a few bandages. I cleaned the wounds and covered them up. All was well.

Once we had our fill of ocean exploring, we figured it was time for lunch. And if you’re in San Pedro and hankering for a sandwich, Busy Bee is the only place to go. The sandwiches are huge, the selection is great, and the people are all friendly. A definitely small-town vibe going on here.

Sandwiches in hand, we then headed to a place I wrote about over a year ago: The Korean Bell of Friendship. It’s one of my favorite local places not only because of the scenery, but for its history and symbolism. Granted with the way things are in North Korea, the hopes of the two nations being buddy-buddy (as long as Korea remains divided) seems like a lost cause, but the bell remains a symbol that it may one day happen.

The hilltop view is stunning with views of the ocean in almost every direction. So fantastic are the views that this was what I saw as I decided to take five minutes away from the family and meditate.

With a slight breeze blowing, I closed my eyes and let everything drift away for five minutes. It was quite an experience and I must do it again.

It was a busy day but one that the family most certainly won’t forget. In fact, Anthony is already asking when we will go back. He collected quite a few shells and cool rocks during this little excursion and wants to add to it.

I have no problem in fulfilling his request.

If you are ever in the area, by all means stop by and check out the tide pools of White Point. Getting in touch with nature – literally and figuratively – is good for the soul.